Cats and dogs are carnivores, with cats being more specialised
and dependent upon prey animals than dogs, who are more omnivorous.
In the wild, dogs can be expected to eat fruit, plants and roots, in addition to
herbivore dung. Herbs are therefore more obviously natural as a food or medicine for dogs than
might be the case for cats. Dogs also appear to have the capability to self-medicate with
naturally-available herbs (zoopharmacognosy)
and we suspect that cats may do that too but so far we have not ourselves witnessed them
doing so.

Dogs and cats generally accept herbal medicines very readily,
usually added to the daily food ration.

It is important to consult an experienced herb vet, in order
to avoid potentially dangerous incompatibility with conventional medication,
dangers in pregnancy and lactation and dosing or species anomalies. Many
commercial 'off-the-shelf' herbal products vie for your money - these are often
modifications of human herbal formulae and may not be suitable for your cat.

Herbal vet in practice: A sample of the cat diseases and conditions that we may
be called upon to treat with
herbal medicine are (in alphabetical order):

Herb vet at work: We see animals at the
AVMC premises for phytotherapy (herbs) and we regularly visit
an area stretching from Wales to London, from Devon to Kent, from South to North
Midlands and from Bristol and West Midlands to the Wash and East Anglia. Visits
are mainly to see horses but we can also arrange house calls (home visits) for
domestic pets. We see many patients from London and visit London homes.